Chapter 2

The Physical Layer

1
 The Theoretical Basis for Data
Communication

• Fourier Analysis
• Bandwidth-Limited Signals
• Maximum Data Rate of a Channel

2
 Fourier Series Decomposition
Reminder:
Any (reasonably behaved) periodic signal g(t), of period T, can be
constructed by summing a (possibly infinite) number of sines and
cosines (called a Fourier series):
 
1
g (t ) 
2
c  a n sin( 2  nft )   b n cos( 2  nft ) (2 - 1)
n 1 n 1

where
f = 1/T is the fundamental frequency
an and bn are the sine and cosine amplitudes of the nth
harmonics
(For nonperiodic signals, refer to Fourier transforms, but the intuition is
the same)
2 
an   g (t ) s in ( 2 n ft ) d t

2 
bn   g (t ) c o s ( 2 n ft ) d t

2 
3
c 

 g (t ) d t
Fourier Transform

4
 Fourier Transform (2)

We refer to |G(f)| as the magnitude spectrum of the signal g(t), and

refer to arg {G(f)} as its phase spectrum.

5
 Bandwidth-Limited Signals

A binary signal and its root-mean-square Fourier amplitudes.

(b) – (c) Successive approximations to the original signal. 6
 Bandwidth-Limited Signals (2)

(d) – (e) Successive approximations to the original signal.

7
 Bandwidth-Limited Signals (3)
Suppose we transmit the previous binary signal (of 8 bits) infinitely often,
we have a periodic signal.
Suppose the transmission is done on a telephone line (cut-off frequency = ± 3000 Hz)

Data rate= D T = 8/D f = 1/T greatest int ≤ 3000 × T

OK

Not
OK

Relation between data rate and harmonics.

8
Sample function of random binary wave

9
Autocorrelation function of random binary wave

10
Power spectral density of random binary wave

Sx f    R x   exp(  j 2 f ) d  11

 Line codes for the electrical representations of binary data.
(a) Unipolar NRZ signaling. (b) Polar NRZ signaling. (c) Unipolar RZ signaling.
(d) Bipolar RZ signaling. (e) Split-phase or Manchester code. 12
Coding: baud vs. bps

baud=Symbol/sec
Maximum Data Rate of a Channel

 Nyquist’s Theorem
Max. data rate = 2 H log 2
V bits/sec
(Noiseless Channel)
where V represent No. of discrete level of signals.
 Shannon’s Theorem
S
Max. data rate = H log 2 (1  ) bits/sec
N
(Noisy Channel)

where S/N represent signal-to-noise ratio.

14
Guided Transmission Media

• Magnetic Media
• Twisted Pairs
• Coaxial Cable
• Power Lines
• Fiber Optics

15
 Magnetic Media

• Write data onto magnetic media

• Disks
• Tapes
• Data transmission speed
• Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station
wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

16
 Twisted Pair
 Twisted pair
– two insulated copper wires, 1mm thick
– to reduce electrical interference from similar pairs close by
– low cost
 Application
– telephone system: nearly all telephones
– several km without amplification
 Bandwidth
– thickness of the wire, and distance
– Typically, several Mbps for a few km

17
 Twisted Pairs

Category 5 UTP cable with four twisted pairs

(a) Category 3 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). BW.=16MHz

(b) Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). BW.=100MHz
(c) Cat. 6 BW.=250MHz, Cat.7 BW.= 600MHz
18
Coaxial Cable

A coaxial cable.
19
 Power Lines

A network that uses household electrical wiring.

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
 Baseband Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial cable (coax)
– better shielding (Fig. 2-4)
– longer distances at higher speeds
– two kinds
• 50-ohm cable: digital transmission
• 75-ohm cable: analog transmission (Cable TV)
 Bandwidth
– 1-km cable: 1-2 Gbps
 Application
– telephones system: coaxial cable are being replaced by fiber optics
– widely used for cable TV
21
 Broadband Coaxial Cable
 Broadband cable
– any cable network using analog transmission
– 300 MHz (1bps ~ 1 Hz of bandwidth)
– 100 km
– multiple channels: 6-MHz channels
 Difference between baseband and broadband
– broadband covers a large area
– analog amplifiers are needed
 Broadband cable
– inferior to baseband (single channel) for sending digital data
– advantage: a huge amount is installed
– In US, TV cable more than 80% of all homes
– cable TV systems will operate as MANs and offer telephone and
other service 22
fiber

23
 Fiber Optics
 Achievable bandwidth with fiber: more than 50,000 Gbps
– 40 Gbps/wavelength : due to inability to convert electrical ->
optical signals faster
– 100 Gbps: in lab
 CPUs’ physical limits
– speed of electron
– heat dissipation
 Communication (100 times/decade) won the race with
computation (10 times/decade)
– use network, and avoid computations at all

24
 Fiber Optics (2)
 Optical Transmission Systems
– light source
– transmission medium: ultra-thin fiber of glass
– detector: light -> electrical pulse
 Refraction ( See Fig. 2.5)
 Multimode fiber
– many different rays are bounced at different angles
 Single-mode fiber
– fiber’s diameter: a few wavelengths of light
– for longer distances
– lasers: 100 km without repeaters

25
 Fiber Optics (3)

(a) Three examples of a light ray from inside a silica fiber impinging
on the air/silica boundary at different angles.
(b) Light trapped by total internal reflection.
Snell’s

26
(total internal reflection)
Transmission of Light through Fiber

Attenuation of light through fiber in the infrared region.

27
 Fiber Cables

(a) Side view of a single fiber.

(b) End view of a sheath with three fibers. 28
 Fiber Cables (2)

Long

A comparison of semiconductor diodes and LEDs as light sources.

29
 Comparison Between Fiber Optics and
Copper Wire
 Fiber Optics
– Much higher bandwidths
– Low attenuation: amplifiers for every 30 km
– Not affected by power surges, electromagnetic interference, power
failures, corrosive chemicals
– Telephone systems like it: thin and lightweight
• copper has excellent resale value
• fiber has much lower installation cost
– Quite difficult to tap: do not leak light
– Disadvantage
• two-way communication: two fibers or two frequency bands on one
fiber
• fiber interfaces are more expensive than electrical interfaces
 Copper Wire
– Amplifiers : ~ every 5 km
30
 Wireless Transmission

• The Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Radio Transmission
• Microwave Transmission
• Infrared and Millimeter Waves
• Lightwave Transmission

31
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
 lf = c, df
 
c
 f 
c l
(2 - 3)
– c: 3 * 108 m/sec d l l l
2 2

– copper or fiber: 2/3 speeds

 Can be used for transmitting information
– radio, microwave, infrared, and visible light
– by modulating the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the waves
 The others
– Ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays
– they are better due to their higher frequencies
– disadvantages
• hard to produce
• hard to modulate
• do not propagate well through buildings
• dangerous to living things
 National and International agreements about who can use
32
which frequencies.
 Electromagnetic Spectrum (1)

The electromagnetic spectrum and its uses for communication.

33
 Radio Transmission
 Radio waves
– easy to generate
– travel long distances
– penetrate buildings easily (< 2.0GHz)
– omnidirectional (travel in all directions)
 Properties
– at low frequencies
• pass through obstacles well
• power falls off sharply with distance ( 1 / r^3 in air)
– at high frequencies
• tend to travel in straight lines
• bounce off obstacles
• absorbed by rain
– subject to interference from motors and electrical equipment
34
 Radio Transmission (2)
 VLF, LF, and MF Bands (See Fig. 2-12a)
– radio waves follow the ground
– can be detected for 1000 km at the lower frequencies
– offer relatively low bandwidth
 HF and VHF Bands
– the waves reaching the ionoshpere (電離層) are
refracted back to the earth
– Hams (amateur radio operators) use them to talk long
distances

35
The Electromagnetic Spectrum (2)

Spread spectrum and ultra-wideband

(UWB) communication

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
 Radio Transmission (3)

(a) In the VLF, LF, and MF bands, radio waves follow the
curvature of the earth.
(b) In the HF band, they bounce off the ionosphere.
37
 Microwave Transmission
 Microwaves
– above 100 Mhz
– travel in straight lines, narrowly focused
– long distance telephone transmission systems (before fiber optics)
– MCI: Microwave Communications, Inc. (A company was
competing with AT&T)
– repeaters needed periodically
– do not penetrate buildings well
– Multipath fading: some divergence, some refracted
– problem at 4 GHz: absorption by water (rain)
 Usage
– widely used by long-distance telephone, cellular telephones, TV
 Advantages over Fiber Optics
– do not need right of way: microwave tower for every 50 km (MCI)
38
– relatively inexpensive (towers and antennas)
 Microwave Transmission (2)
 Industrial/Scientific/Medical Bands (ISM)
– do not require government licensing
– cordless telephones, garage door openers, wireless hi-fi
speakers, security gates
– higher bands
• more expensive electronics
• interference from microwave and radar installations

39
The Politics of the Electromagnetic
Spectrum

ISM and U-NII bands used in the

United States by wireless devices

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
Infrared and Millimeter Waves
 short range communications:
– remote controllers for TVs, VCRs, and stereos
 relatively directional, cheap, easy to build
 do not pass through solid objects
– no interference between rooms
– security is better than radio systems
– no government license is needed
 Indoor wireless LAN

41
 Lightwave Transmission
 Unguided optical signaling
– to connect LANs in two buildings via lasers mounted on rooftops
• very high bandwidth
• very low cost
• Relatively easy to install
• does not require FCC license
• need to aim accurately
• disadvantage: laser beams cannot penetrate rain or thick fog
 An example interference with convection currents
– See Fig. 2-14

42
 Lightwave Transmission (2)

Convection currents can interfere with laser communication systems.

A bidirectional system with two lasers is pictured here. 43
 System Description(1)

• 1.Transmitter
– Block diagram of the transmitter 44
Broadband Communication Laboratory
 System Description(2)

a) 2.Receiver
– Block diagram of the transmitter 45
Broadband Communication Laboratory
 System Description(3)
– b. Specification of 6” lens
Diameter:6”(~15cm)
focal length:600mm

46
Broadband Communication Laboratory
 Experiment Set-up

• Tx in Lulin astronomical observatory

• Rx in Dong-Pu 47
Broadband Communication Laboratory
 Measurement Results
– BER versus Received Power

Broadband Communication Laboratory 48

 Communication Satellites

• Geostationary Satellites
• Medium-Earth Orbit Satellites
• Low-Earth Orbit Satellites
• Satellites versus Fiber

49
 Communication Satellites

Communication satellites and some of their properties,

including altitude above the earth, round-trip delay time
and number of satellites needed for global coverage. 50
Communication Satellites (2)

The principal satellite bands.

51
Communication Satellites (3)

VSATs using a hub.

52
Low-Earth Orbit Satellites (1)

The Iridium satellites form six necklaces

around the earth.
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 Globalstar

(a) Relaying in space.

(b) Relaying on the ground. 54
Digital Modulation and Multiplexing

• Baseband Transmission
• Passband Transmission
• Frequency Division Multiplexing
• Time Division Multiplexing
• Code Division Multiplexing

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
 Baseband Transmission

Line codes: (a) Bits, (b) NRZ, (c) NRZI,

(d) Manchester, (e) Bipolar or AMI.

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 Clock Recovery

4B/5B mapping.

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Passband Transmission (1)

(a) A binary signal. (b) Amplitude shift keying.

(c) Frequency shift keying. (d) Phase shift keying.
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 Passband Transmission (2)

(a) QPSK. (b) QAM-16. (c) QAM-64.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing (1)

Gray-coded QAM-16.

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
Frequency Division Multiplexing (2)

Frequency division multiplexing. (a) The original bandwidths.

(b) The bandwidths raised in frequency.
(c) The multiplexed channel.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing (3)

Orthogonal frequency division

multiplexing (OFDM).

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Time Division Multiplexing

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM).

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Code Division Multiplexing (1)

(a) Chip sequences for four stations.

(b) Signals the sequences represent

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Code Division Multiplexing (2)

(a) Six examples of transmissions.

(b) Recovery of station C’s

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
Public Switched Telephone System
• Structure of the Telephone System
• The Politics of Telephones
• The Local Loop: Modems, ADSL and Wireless
• Trunks and Multiplexing
• Switching

66
 Telephone System
 Telephone system is tightly intertwined with WAN
– cable between two computers
• transfer at memory speeds: 108 bps
• error rate: 10-12 bits (one per day)
– dial up line
• data rate: 104 bps
• error rate: 10-5 bits
• 11 orders of magnitude worse than cable

67
 Structure of Telephone System
 Hierarchy of telephone system: 5 levels
 Terms
– end office (local central office): area code + first 3 digits
– local loop: two copper wires/telephone, < 10 km
– toll office
• tandem office: within the same local area
– switching centers: primary, sectional, and regional exchanges
– See Fig. 2-21
 Advantages of digital signaling (-5 & +5 volts)
– lower error rate: less loss for long distance with regenerators
– voice, data, music, and images can be interspersed
– much higher data rates with existing lines
– much cheaper (to distinguish 0 & 1 is easier)
– maintenance is easier: tracking problems
68
Structure of the Telephone System (2)

(a) Fully-interconnected network.

(b) Centralized switch.
(c) Two-level hierarchy. 69
Structure of the Telephone System (3)

A typical circuit route for a medium-distance call.

70
 Major Components of the
Telephone System
• Local loops
 Analog twisted pairs going to houses and
businesses
• Trunks
 Digital fiber optics connecting the switching
offices
• Switching offices
 Where calls are moved from one trunk to another

71
 The Politics of Telephones

(point of presence)

The relationship of Local Access and Transport Areas

(LATAs), Local Exchange Carriers (LECs), and
IntereXchange Carriers (IXCs). All the circles are
LEC switching offices. Each hexagon belongs to the
72
IXC whose number is on it.
 The Local Loop: Modems,
ADSL, and Wireless

The use of both analog and digital transmissions for a computer to

computer call. Conversion is done by the modems and codecs.
73
 Modems
 Two problems with DC (baseband signaling)
– attenuation: the amount of energy lost depends on the frequency
– delay distortion: different Fourier components travel at different
speeds
 Modem
– Stream of bits <--> a modulated carrier
– AC signaling
• Sine wave carrier: a continuous tone in the 1000- to 2000-Hz
• Amplitude, frequency, or phase can be modulated (See Fig. 2-24)
– How to go to higher speeds
• Baud: number of changes per second
• Transmitting more bits per baud (See Figs. 2-25 and 2-26)
• QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation): transmitting 9600 bps using
2400 baud line
74
 Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL)
•The DSL uses unfiltered (without coil) local loop lines
•The capacity of local loop depends on length, the thickness, and general quality

Bandwidth versus distanced over category 3 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) for DSL.
When all the other factors (new wires, modest bundles, …) are optimal 75
 Digital Subscriber Lines (2)
•The Discrete MultiTone (DMT) modulation divides the available 1.1 MHz spectrum
on the local loop into 256 independent channels of 4312.5 Hz each
• Channel 0 is used for voice, channels 1~5 are for the guard band
Of the remaining 250 channels, one is used for upstream control, and one is used
for downstream control. The others are for use data.

Operation of Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) using discrete multitone modulation.

76
Digital Subscriber Lines (3)

Network
Interface
Device
Digital
Subscriber
Line Access
Multiplexer

A typical ADSL equipment configuration.

77
 Wireless Local Loops
(For Competitive Local Exchange Carrier)
 LMDS uses 28 GHz, 38GHz, 58GHz…

 Problems of LMDS are high absorption (leaves, rain) and

line of sight needed

78
Architecture of an Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) system.
 Fiber To The Home

Passive optical network for Fiber To The Home.

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 Time Division Multiplexing
 Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) is the heart of the modern telephone system
 A analog signal is sampled, quantized and coded

Each channel has 8bits, 24 channels and one framing bit form a frame of 125 µsec

The T1 carrier (1.544 Mbps).

80
Time Division Multiplexing (2)

Delta modulation.
81
Time Division Multiplexing (3)

Multiplexing T1 streams into higher carriers.

82
 Time Division Multiplexing (4)
A basic Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) frame is a block of 810 bytes for 125 µsec

(Synchronous
Payload
Envelope)
Two back-to-back SONET frames.
83
 SONET/SDH (2)

SONET and SDH multiplex rates.

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Wavelength Division Multiplexing

(OR Array Waveguide, AWG)

When the wavelengths are spaced closer, e.g. 0.1 nm,
the system is referred to as Dense WDM (DWDM)

Wavelength division multiplexing. 85

 Time Division Multiplexing (5)
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) differs from SONET only in minor way

 The Synchronous Transport signal-1 (STS-1) is the basic SONET channel

 The Optical carrier (OC) corresponding to STS-n is called OC-n

SONET and SDH multiplex rates. 86

Circuit Switching

(a) Circuit switching.

(b) Packet switching (store-and-forward). 87
 Message Switching

88
(a) Circuit switching (b) Message switching (c) Packet switching
Circuit Switching/Packet Switching (3)

A comparison of circuit-switched and packet-switched networks.

Computer Networks, Fifth Edition by Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, © Pearson Education-Prentice Hall, 2011
 The Mobile Telephone System
 First-Generation Mobile Phones:
Analog Voice
 Second-Generation Mobile Phones:
Digital Voice
 Third-Generation Mobile Phones:
Digital Voice, Data, and image
 Fourth-Generation Mobile Phones (OFDM):
multimedia
90
Advanced Mobile Phone System

(a) Frequencies are not reused in adjacent cells.

(b) To add more users, smaller cells can be used for hot spots.
91
GSM—The Global System for
Mobile Communications (1)

GSM mobile network architecture.

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 GSM
Global System for Mobile
Communicationss

GSM uses 124 frequency channels, each of which

uses an eight-slot TDM system 93
 GSM (2)

A portion of the GSM framing structure.

94
 Digital Voice and Data (1)

Basic services intend by IMT-2000 network

a) High-quality voice transmission.
b) Messaging (replacing email, fax, SMS, chat).
c) Multimedia (music, videos, films, television).
d) Internet access (Web surfing, incl. audio, video).

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 Digital Voice and Data (2)

Soft handoff (a) before, (b) during, and (c) after.

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 Cable Television

 Community Antenna Television

 Internet over Cable
 Spectrum Allocation
 Cable Modems
 ADSL versus Cable

97
Community Antenna Television

An early cable television system.

98
Internet over Cable

Cable Television
99
Internet over Cable (2)

The fixed telephone system.

100
 Spectrum Allocation

Frequency allocation in a typical cable TV system

used for Internet access 101
 Cable Modems

Typical details of the upstream and downstream

channels in North America. 102